While technology has its benefits, there’s a dark side as well: scammers looking to take advantage with new ways to commit fraud, especially against seniors, who are considered easier targets due to not being as familiar with new technologies and taking people more at their word.
It’s believed that around 3.5 million older adults were scammed out of a total of $3.5 billion in 2019.
In an effort to stay one step ahead of the swindlers, Granville Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing has a look at three scams that are becoming more and more popular this year.
- Cryptocurrency ATM Scams
The details surrounding cryptocurrency remain a mystery to a large percentage of the population, and bad guys are taking advantage of that. You may have noticed cryptocurrency ATMs popping up at convenience stores and even larger retailers. People will contact you and pretend to be from a government agency, a utility, or a sweepstakes company and pressure you to make a deposit or payment into one of these ATMs. Once that happens, the money is gone and untraceable. The key thing to know here is that no legitimate agency or business will tell you that you can only pay via cryptocurrency.
- Tax Collection Imposters
This isn’t a new scam but continues to be a popular one. People claiming to be either from the IRS or your local state, county, or city tax department and claiming that you owe money, and oftentimes, they will threaten you with a loss of your driver’s license or invoke financial penalties. In reality, all tax agencies will only communicate via mail—all phone calls and emails are scammers.
- Getting Gift Cards as a Favor
This is primarily done over email and is popular among businesses, but people can get them on their personal accounts as well. Someone will create an email account that mimics that of your boss or friend and will message you saying that they are in a hurry but forgot to get a gift card for a friend’s birthday or company giveaway. They then ask you go to get the gift card and give them the number. If you do this, the money is gone once you give the number away. The first thing you should do if you receive an email like this is to match that the email address is actually the correct one, and then if you’re still not certain, call the person to verify.
To learn more about Granville Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing and all of the services they offer, visit http://granville-center.facilities.centershealthcare.org.
